Gelaohui
The Gelaohui, usually translated as the Elder Brothers Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement against the Qing Dynasty. Although it was not associated with Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui, they both participated in the Xinhai Revolution. It was also known as Futaubang, or Hatchet Gang, as every member allegedly carried a small hatchet inside the sleeve.
| Formation | Qianlong period (one theory) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded at | Sichuan | ||||||||
| Dissolved | after 1949 | ||||||||
| Type | Secret society | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 哥老會 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 哥老会 | ||||||||
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Li Hanzhang (李瀚章), the governor of Hunan in the Qing Dynasty, stated in the memorial that the Gelaohui "originated in Sichuan and Guizhou for a long time", the society engaged in several uprisings across China, notably in Hunan province during 1870 and 1871. Numerous individuals notable in late-19th and early-20th Chinese history (including Zhu De, Wu Yuzhang, Liu Zhidan and He Long) were Gelaohui members.
Strongly xenophobic and anti-Manchu Qing, the Gelaohui were active in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, as well as taking part in attacks on Catholic missions and converts in 1912.
Originally quite willing to take on other "oppressed" Chinese minorities, several Chinese Muslim Gelaohui members participated in the Ningxia Revolution, and there was a substantial number of Muslim Gelaohui in Shaanxi.
During the Xinhai Revolution of Xinjiang, there were fightings related to the Elder Brothers Society.